A page from my personal journal dated June 13th, 2010. The apartment in Roma, located just steps from the piazza, was a second floor walk up with three fairly large bedrooms, a living room, two kitchens, a beautiful outdoor garden terrace, nicely appointed. The third floor had a bathroom, complete with bidet and shower, two…
Sometimes I look at her and see a familiar face, the lines of her profile, the shape of her nose. It is as if I am reliving a tiny piece of my past. It might be an expression she throws out in conversation. It might be the way she tilts her head. It takes me…
Every once in awhile it dawns on me that life has spun out of control. It happens slowly, bite by bite, day by day, a missed workout here, a french fry there. Suddenly, I realize I am avoiding my daily weigh-in knowing, deep down, the scale has to be tipping in the wrong direction. The…
If I could have written this on Saturday night I undoubtedly would have more vivid memories of the day. But, I will try to recapture the excitement we felt walking toward the 16th green of the Stadium Course at The Players during the third round. That day Fred bounced back to shoot an unbelievable score…
To most cooks just entering the world of food preparation, the thought of homemade pasta is threatening. It congers up glimpses of large dark haired women in ruffled, tomato stained aprons standing for hours in front of a marble topped table endlessly kneading flour, eggs, water and salt into a pliable dough. It would be…
Yesterday Kelly reminded me that we will be flying off to Florence in just 9 weeks! We will share an Italian cooking vacation for seven days at Casa Ombuto near Florence. Paolo, Laura and Franco, our chefs, have returned from Sicily where they sampled several new dishes they will add to our Mediterranean Cooking Class…
Olivia Ann and Thomas Scott, our eight year old twin grandchildren will be celebrating their second sacrament, First Holy Communion on May 1st, 2010. This is a blessed event. At least it is for Olivia, I am not so sure Tommy shares the same level of enthusiasm. First holy communion is the second of seven…
Last Friday was a perfect day. It was the first springlike day we have experienced this year. Our temperatures have not reached eighty in over ninety days. Yes, this is Florida. But this day was warmer, the sun was shining and the birds, recently having returned from the South and nesting over their precious eggs,…
The wedding is fast approaching and our family needs to be thinking about toasts or tributes we might be called upon to make. My husband is a great proponent of toasts, always ready to click the glass and express his personal thoughts at a celebration, a kindness, a success, any reason to lend an encouraging…
As a Mother, I dreamed of a “…happily ever after” to my “Once upon a time…” Most Fathers dream of an entire baseball team of their miniature selves running bases and hitting balls out of the park. Rarely does the dream-team include offspring of the female gender. God blessed Tom and I with two athletic…